Here’s Why You Must Take Your Gut Health Seriously
Have you ever wondered why people say you are what you eat?
Well, that’s because the food you ingest comes not only with lots of nutrients, but also loads of microbes that aren’t noticeable to the bare eye.
Don’t get grossed out just yet! These microbes are significantly important to our holistic health—how you feel, think and become, as a person.
There’s more to our bellies than just digesting the food we eat. You indeed are what you eat; but you are also your mental states, the environment you live in, and the experiences you have. The outer world and the choices you make influence the world within you; your gut.
Just how our brains react to the outer world by signaling our body to take certain actions, our gut is also responsive to the external environment; it’s always listening. Perhaps interestingly this is why the gut is called our “second brain”.
However, the prevalence of high stress levels, processed food, highly sterile spaces, and little consumption of plant fiber is increasingly decreasing the diversity of most people’s gut microbiome—paving the way for numerous health issues.
In this blog, we'll take a deep dive to understand the world within us, what you should and shouldn’t do for a healthy gut, and more.
Let’s get to the gut of it, shall we?
What is a Healthy Gut?
The gut, also known as the gastrointestinal tract, is the long tube that starts at the mouth and ends at the anus. It includes all the main organs of the digestive system; the small and large intestine.
A healthy gut is well-functioning with a diversity of microbes, healthy bacteria, and immune cells and communicates essential nervous and hormonal signals to the brain. Emotional wellbeing, balanced moods, and healthy digestion movements are some obvious indicators of a healthy gut. A major indicator of good gut health is when you have a regular, easy-to-pass bowel movement (once or twice daily).
The Gut Microbiome: A little universe inside of you with tiny little microbes (approx. 300 to 500 different species of bacteria) in your intestines is called the gut microbiome. This microbiome is vital to the holistic health of a body; serving the body for various crucial processes such as immunity, digestion, and so on. This ecosystem of microbes in the gut is no less diverse than the Amazon rainforest.
Just like all things good, diversity keeps our gut microbiome thriving. A variety of bacteria, viruses, immune cells, and fungi—each variety of microbes has a role to play, either to break down certain foods and protect from alien bacteria.
Why Pay Attention to Your Gut Health?
The big brain is made up of 86 billion neurons that send signals to our body incessantly. Interestingly enough, our guts are made up of a hundred million neurons; practically a mini-brain itself.
The gut is also called the Enteric Nervous System, and is semi autonomous in nature. Meaning that while it does stay in constant communication with the brain, it can function without the signals from the brain as well. This is enough to establish the independence of the gut and just how big of a part it plays in the functioning of our bodies.
Our gut microbiome thrives when fueled with the right food. The food we eat is not only fuel to our bodies, but it builds our bodies up—getting broken down, entering the bloodstream, and constituting each of our cells as nutrients.
Our cells make up who we are. However, this process won’t be as smooth without a healthy gut and a diverse microbiome. If you don’t eat food that fuels the cells, multiplies the good bacteria, and strengthens the immune system, chances are that you will be paving way for pathogens, free radicals, and infectious agents to build up in your system; thus slowing it down.
How The Gut Health Affects Your Body
The estrogen balance in your body is tied to a healthy gut as gut health depends highly on the amount of fiber in your body. Estrogen plays a vital role in female health as it is responsible for development and regulation of the female reproductive system, and prepares the body for childbearing.
The excretion of the hormone estrogen requires a high fiber to bind and carry it out the bowel system. If you have a weak gut, this estrogen can be re-circulated throughout your body causing a common issue called estrogen dominance—causing weight gain, tender breasts, PMS, heavy periods, and water retention.
Having a diverse gut microbiome also equates to a stronger immune system. The good bacteria in the gut fight the bad bacteria and toxins from the outer world. However, when you have a weak gut, intestinal walls become weak and the immune cells are unable to differentiate between good and bad bacteria, allowing all toxins to pass into the bloodstream. This can give birth to numerous health issues.
How Your Gut Health Affects Your Mental Health
The juicy part is that while the gut has a major job of digesting the food we eat—right from the ingestion to the ejection—it is also a big contributor to how our body works and ultimately, how we feel.
Our gut has a major role in balancing the hormones in our bodies. Since our hormones signal our body functions, gut health plays a vital role in overall health.
Our moods and emotions are massively influenced by the nerves in our gut. You’ll be amazed to know that the gut is home to 95% of the serotonin aka the "happy hormone" in the body.
How Your Gut Health Affects Your Immunity
A healthy gut is a major contributor to a healthy immune system because about 70% of our immune system resides in our gut. Having a weak immune system, as we know it, can make us susceptible to a variety of diseases. Inflammation and immunity are closely responsible for most diseases such as diabetes and cancer, but how is the gut related to this?
The microbiome in our gut, different microbes having different functions, is also vastly responsible for regulating immune homeostasis (the process of balancing hormone functions within our body to maintain a robust immune system). The main function of the bacteria regulating immune homeostasis is to fight the alien substance, free radicals, and toxins that enter our system from what we eat and flushing them out of the GI tract.
When these good bacteria are more in number in the gut microbiome, the immune homeostasis is faster, more efficient in the elimination of toxins and bad bacteria, as compared to when there’s a lack of diversity in the gut. The toxins from the food we eat can also increase the pH of the large intestine, which in turn can increase the metabolism of cholesterol and bile acid in the gut; leading to a variety of diseases.
Thus, when your gut is strong with a variety of good bacteria, it backs the immune system up, giving the immune cells what it takes to fight and eliminate toxins.
Some conditions that can possibly be caused by an Unhealthy Gut:
C. Difficile Infection
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Liver Cirrhosis
Diabetes
Chronic Heart Conditions
What Affects Your Gut Health?
The food you eat. People who have a wide-ranged, balanced diet have a diverse microbiota (aka a healthier gut) than those who eat from only specific food groups.
The nature of your birth. Vaginal delivery exposes the human body to a variety of microbes, often better and more, than cesarean delivery.
The environment you grow up in. People who have been exposed to a variety of good bacteria, playing in dirt or snuggling with pets, in their childhood have a diverse gut microbiome and a strong immune system.
How stressed you are on a daily basis. High-stress levels are linked to poor gut health.
The environment you live in. Living in a highly sterilized environment can impact the microflora in the gut.
Antibiotics consumption. A high antibiotics consumption kills not only the bad bacteria but also the good bacteria in the gut. So go easy on the pills unless absolutely necessary.
Signs Your Gut Need Your Attention
Food intolerance. If your particular foods cause discomfort and digestive irritation, chances are that the body cannot properly digest them. This is a big sign of poor gut health. Some common types of food intolerances are lactose (or dairy) intolerance, gluten intolerance, caffeine intolerance, and so on.
Stomach issues. If you are experiencing bloating, feeling constipated and persisting diarrhea, this is a sign for you to focus on improving your gut health to digest your food better.
Sleep issues. If you feel sleep-deprived and fatigued constantly, shift your focus to the gut because chances are that you are not getting enough nutrients or digesting the nutrients well to regulate your body’s serotonin and melatonin levels.
Sudden weight fluctuations. Losing or gaining too much weight suddenly can be a sign of an unhealthy gut as such fluctuations happen when your body is unable to regulate the blood glucose well, or absorb the nutrients from the food you eat.
Skin problems. Rashes, acne, and skin irritation can be linked to poor gut health. When your gut doesn’t digest and excrete proteins well, chances are that they get leaked out in the body; causing inflammation. This inflammation can lead to conditions like acne, or eczema.
Autoimmune conditions are also an indication of poor gut health. An unhealthy gut, while increasing inflammation, can also affect the immune system in various ways.
Other indicators:
Blood in the stool
Black stool
Severe vomiting
Severe stomach-aches
Discomfort in swallowing food
Habits That Improve Your Gut Health
Eat slowly and mindfully as it supports complete digestion and absorption of nutrients. Thus, ease the digestive stress on the gut and keep it healthier for a longer time.
Have a balanced, colorful diet. Good bacteria thrive when nourished well. Your microbiota needs a variety of foods from greens to carbs, to protein and antioxidants, to stay diverse.
Work on lowering stress levels. Stress can weaken your gut. Spend time in nature, practice some form of mindfulness practice like meditate and journal every day to stay relaxed and destress.
Listen to your body. Food intolerance and allergies are some of the major causes of an unhealthy gut. If any food groups make you feel uncomfortable, or your body reacts badly to them, avoid eating them. Also, consult a specialist to identify any specific food allergies or intolerances and work on treating them, and staying safe.
Avoid processed foods and remove refined sugar from your diet. They aren’t good for you anyway, and now you have another reason too.
Adopt healthier alternatives to refined sugar with Stevia leaves, coconut sugar, etc. If you like snacking, try out some apples with peanut butter, crunchy coconut, or granola.
Make healthy lifestyle choices every day. Move your body and spend some time in the sun, because gut health affects your overall health and vice versa.
Get plenty of sleep. Just as a healthy gut influences your melatonin levels, vice versa is also true as sleep plays a major role in your digestive health. When you are sleep-deprived, you tend to make food choices that impact your gut health negatively. Focus on getting more than 7 hours of sleep every night.
Drink a lot of water as besides keeping our bodies hydrated, water strengthens the mucosal lining of the intestines and balances the good bacteria in the gut.
Take prebiotics and probiotics that promote diversity in the gut microbiome and keep it functioning well.
Habits Bad for your Gut Health
Binge eating and overeating can put an overload on your gut, causing digestive discomfort and weakening the gut. Often when people binge eat, they tend not to chew very well. Additionally, you tend to eat more than your body needs, consuming more calories. This can lead to digestive stress and difficulty in breaking the food down. Such habits can also cause major excess weight gain and digestive issues.
Overconsumption of Antibiotics kills both bad and good bacteria in the gut. Try avoiding taking medication for conditions that can be healed naturally.
Drinking too much alcohol. Alcohol has metabolites that can irritate the intestinal walls. Overdrinking can cause heavy inflammation in your gastrointestinal tract (GI) and weaken your gut.
Foods to Maintain a Healthy Gut Microbiome
High-fiber foods such as beans, lentils, broccoli, berries, whole grains, apples, and dried fruits, keep the colon cells healthy and the bowel movements soft to keep the digestive tract healthy and active.
Fermented foods (rich in Indole-3 Lactic Acid ILA) such as pickles, cultured milk and yogurt, kimchi, kombucha, cider, and tempeh, break down free radicals that tend to damage our cells.
Tryptophan-rich foods such as whole milk, turkey, chicken, oats, tuna, and cheese promote the production of two hormones in your body: serotonin to stabilize your mood, and melatonin to help you sleep.
Tyrosine-rich foods such as avocados, bananas, yogurt, soy, almonds, fish, peanuts, lima beans, pumpkin, and sesame seeds, increase the production of brain chemicals responsible for attention and focus.
Probiotics consist of live microbes that help enhance and restore health to our gut microbiome. They can be found naturally in fermented dairy products such as yogurt, cheese and kefir as well as foods like kimchi and sauerkraut. They are also recommended as supplements to optimize their effect and get the best results. And if you haven't yet experienced the extraordinary goodness of probiotics on your gut health, Ultimate Probiotic by Magnolia Wellness can be a great starting point for you.
Prebiotics found in foods such as garlic, onions, barley, artichokes, asparagus, berries, and cocoa are carbs that help healthy bacteria grow (i.e. they are food for your healthy gut bacteria).
Fresh leafy vegetables and seasonal fruits are rich in essential micronutrients including vitamins and minerals important for the growth and maintenance of a healthy body.
You see, your gut is a mirror to your lifestyle; if you have a healthy lifestyle, you will have a healthy gut and vice versa.
Make the right choices starting today. It’s never too late to take a step in the right direction—towards focusing on your gut health. It will show up in your physique, mood, skin, and mental clarity.
As they say, “Fix your gut; fix your life”.
We hope this blog helped you delve deeper into the importance of a healthy gut and gave insights on how to keep your gut healthy. If you have any further questions, reach out to us at hello@magnoliawellnessoc.com and we will get back to you at the earliest!